A travel warning has been issued after more than 900 Australians died overseas last year

MORE than 900 Australians died overseas last year, official figures show, and experts are urging travellers to take extra care when setting off to see the world.

Illness was the leading cause of death for Aussies far away from home with the risk of getting sick highest in the popular tourist destinations of Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Philippines and Indonesia.

National medical adviser for The Travel Doctor, Dr Tony Gherardin, said people often forget to get the proper vaccinations before going abroad and were putting themselves at risk of diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and typhoid fever.

"Less than 50 per cent of Australians take medical precautions before travelling overseas," he said. "Do not be casual about your health while travelling. Especially in the tropics where illness can spread quickly and aggressively."

Accidents were also a common cause of death for Aussies living or holidaying in foreign countries.

Dr Gherardin said tourists often got themselves into trouble overseas because their view of risk changed when they were with other people away from their home environment.

"The risk becomes OK when everyone else is doing it," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recorded 904 Australians who died overseas in 2012 - a 13 per cent jump from the year before.

In 2012, illness accounted for 25 per cent of deaths followed by natural deaths (22 per cent), accidental (7 per cent) and suicide (0.6 per cent). To protect the privacy of families or where deaths are still being investigated, 45 per cent of deaths were classified as "unknown" by DFAT. For example, if one person was murdered in Peru they would put this down as "unknown" because it was easily identifiable.

Officials said the increase reflected a boost in the overall number of people travelling abroad.

"There have not been any unusual trends in the figures for deaths of Australians overseas in 2012," a DFAT spokesperson said. "More Australians are travelling and living abroad than ever before, and these figures reflect that increase."

Overall, the highest number of deaths were recorded in Thailand, the Philippines, Greece, Vietnam and the United States.

One of the highest-profile was Port Adelaide player John McCarthy, who died during a trip to Las Vegas. It was classified as an accident.

Sydney man Lee Hudswell was killed in Laos in January last year when he jumped from a tower into a river while tubing, while Victorian man Patrick Cullen died in Vietnam following a motorcycle accident in October.

Australian military killed in overseas operations were not included in the figures.

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